The Great “Chair” Debate

With table top firmly in place and the sides being constructed I am now pondering the big decisions of which chairs to buy.

I have found TONS of chairs I love, but (there is always a but) they (the TONS of chairs I love) are WAY too much money (for me that is).

I would like to keep it to under $50 a chair. So if you figure we’re starting with 6 that’s $300.  That’s $100 more than my current dining set cost out the door. It’s just a lot for me to swallow. Especially when I’m looking at molded plastic chairs!  But we have to be able to sit down and I want it end up like my vision.

Remember my inspiration for this whole thing?…over a year ago!

Alright-back to the chairs.  I’ve been going back and forth Black or White Black or White.  And I think I’ve decided White-even though there are more (affordable!) options in black.  Most of the furniture in that room is Black…so I feel like we need some more white.

So with out further ado…these are the contenders.

Nils from Ikea-$70

He also comes with arms-$80 (he might be a “future” purchase)

Wal-mart choice-$35 (might be disqualified due to bad reports)

Amazon find – set of 2 for $99 (solid wood)

Gilbert-Ikea-$40 (He stacks-so that’s a plus)

Erland-Ikea-$60 (molded plastic-looks a little too scholastic)

Boujan-Overstock-$118 for the pair

Quindel –Vive Décor- $122 for the pair (might leave weird marks)

And the overpriced dream chairs:

CB2-$120 for 1 chair

Meijer-$80 (I’m going to watch for a sale!)

And the evil dark chairs…with their good deals, sleek designs and taunting sets of four!

Overstock-4 for $136 – Stackable-scratch proof-hose down-able

Meijer-4 for $156- stackable-padded!

Target-2 for $70 Stackable-oh so cute

So there you have it…now it’s decision time. We’ll be buying 6 chairs to start, either in pairs or singles.  Any that you think rock more than others?  Who knows-you might be sitting in one someday-so choose wisely!

New Toys

Sunday was a project day around the Young House.  And with the help of a couple new toys our projects were a success!!
First off my new toy is this contraption:

I was reading a blog where in the lady was making a quilt and was cutting it using a cutting mat and a straight edge. GENIUS! I have both a cutting mat and a straight edge (what’s up 3 years of MAarch program!) and a boat load of exacto knifes. So while making a quilt for baby Wilson I pulled out the beat up mat and grabbed my exacto.  It worked pretty     good. 

Then I got the Joann’s flier.
I don’t normally look at it, I just cut out the coupons.  But there was this picture of a cutting mat and this rolling razor blade thingy. 
Light bulbs went off!
So on Sunday when we headed to Joann’s to get fabric for baby Young’s quilt I ventured into the scissor aisle and picked up my very own Rotary Cutter…for $7 @ 40% off of course
Back at home I pressed the fabrics then pulled our the cutting mat.  I counted 4” lined up my straight edge and rolled away. 
I yelled to Adam “This thing is AWESOME! It’s SO easy!  I can do 4 layers of fabric at a time!!”
I was excited.  Why oh why have I been cutting by hand for the last 11 years??? I beamed as I stacked my PERFECT little squares of fabric and even more so when I laid them all out.

Oh! and check out the cute fabric Uncle Adam chose:

The man goes crazy over monkeys and penguins. What can say…?
Now I have to note that just because I had perfect 4” squares my ability to sew them all perfectly lined up did not improve. Blame it on D'nealian ha ha or my entry level sewing machine, It didn’t come out perfect, but it is super duper cute and will hopefully coordinate well with their jungle themed nursery. Now if we just knew what baby was!!!?

Ok-On to Mr. Adam…
Adam's new toy is a Orbital Sander. 

He informed me that we had to get one to sand the table between layer of Lacquer and that he NEEDED this fancy schmancy $100 sander. Gulp. But being the thrifty deal searching wife I found one for him at Sears for .. $35. No it’s not the fancy one he wanted with it’s own generator-but it would do what we needed.
So while I was busy sewing my squares Adam was out on the patio sanding down the table top.  It worked pretty well and removed most of the groves/buildup from the lacquer. 

When he finally applied the last coat we w.a.i.t.e.d hours to touch it, but when finally we could it is nice and smooth (in most spots).  The table looks great! We decided to keep with the gloss finish instead of the satin.  It is so pretty and shiny and ..seriously folks we can’t stop ooing and ahhing.  It’s still in pieces…and not 100% done, but I’ve informed a few friends that there will be a dinner party in August.  I can’t wait to share the final reveal with you. It’s been a long time coming…but it will be worth the wait.
We hope you all had a splendid weekend.  Back to the Grind…(not)Happy Monday.

The Vaca Post-Finally

We’ve been back a few weeks now, but I still we’re stuck on Central time.  Lagging and dragging ourselves out of bed…still behind on the laundry…but I think that’s just life.  Our trip to Illinois proved to be a fun much needed break from reality. 

First order of business-Luke’s Wedding!

You might remember Luke from our wedding…

He’s Adam’s 1st cousin and they were born just a month or so apart. (Adam’s older in case you wondered)  Anyway, back to Luke. Luke married Leanne, not to be confused with his sister Leanne.

Bride on the Right Sister on the left.

It was a very heartfelt ceremony-very personal and very sweet.

They got married at a botanical garden and the surroundings were very pretty. 

Of course we all had a good old time at the reception dancing drinking and eating the night away until the bus came and took us back to the hotel or if you’re name is Adam onward to the bars downtown.  (Yes I went to bed-I haven’t changed a bit)

The next day we headed north to Rockford where we stayed all week at Adam’s Grandmas.  Visiting from California was his Aunt Carol, cousin Jessica, and 3 2nd cousins-all of whom I’d never met.  The week consisted of a lot of card playing and eating and of course a lot of Kylie time .  The weather wasn’t the greatest but we did make it Magic Waters (The local water park) on the one nice-ish day. 

At the end of the week we packed up and headed into Chicago where we met up with Jonathan and spent 2 days traipsing around the city.  We were able to go see my Junior High best friend’s exhibit, Red Sky @ Night, at a local gallery.  Her work is amazing.  Check out her website here.

Another thing on my list was go to the Frank Lloyd Wright home and studio.  It was interesting and I do think Adam and Jonathan both enjoyed it too.  We also made it up to the top of the Sears Tower and down to Millennia Park. 

It was fun hanging out with Jonathan one on one (two) we don’t get much time w/o the rest of the family.  He (who is working non stop this summer) said it was the most fun he’s had in a long time.  So I left Chicago feeling pretty good, but ready to be back home…in my own bed.

It was a nice vacation.  Relaxing and getting to see lots of family is always good.  But it is true-you always need a vacation AFTER your vacation!!